Taipei: Taiwan’s opposition parties have announced plans to begin impeachment proceedings against President Lai Ching-te on Friday, citing his failure to implement recent legal amendments. The Kuomintang (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) approved a schedule for a plenary session to review the impeachment motion, despite practical challenges that make its passage unlikely.
According to Focus Taiwan, the controversy stems from President Lai’s decision on December 15 not to promulgate a legal amendment aimed at increasing local governments’ share of government revenues. Lai argued that the amendment would undermine Taiwan’s fiscal sustainability. Premier Cho Jung-tai had also declined to countersign the legislation, providing Lai with a reason not to announce the law.
Lo Chih-chang, secretary-general of the KMT legislative caucus, stated after the committee meeting that the party is considering various strategies for the impeachment process in collaboration with the TPP. These strategies include inviting President Lai to the Legislature for an explanation and possibly holding public hearings across the country. The final impeachment vote is tentatively planned for May 20, coinciding with the two-year anniversary of Lai’s inauguration.
Lo’s suggestion of public hearings echoes similar events previously organized by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters in an unsuccessful attempt to recall KMT lawmakers. The substantial procedural obstacles to impeaching a president indicate that the opposition’s move may primarily be a political maneuver.
The Additional Articles of Taiwan’s Constitution require that an impeachment motion must first gain the support of half the total number of lawmakers. It must then be approved by two-thirds of the total number before being forwarded to the Constitutional Court. Currently, the KMT and TPP control 60 of the 113 seats in the Legislature, while the DPP holds 51 seats, and two seats are held by KMT-leaning independents, making a two-thirds majority unlikely.
Even if the impeachment motion clears the Legislature, the Constitutional Court’s current incapacity to hear cases poses an additional challenge. The court currently operates with only eight of its usual 15 justices, although a recent ruling deemed the 10-justice requirement for adjudication unconstitutional.
During the committee hearing, DPP lawmaker Wang Yi-chuan accused the KMT and TPP of using the impeachment proceedings as a pretext to reprimand President Lai publicly, given their insufficient votes to succeed in the impeachment process.